Tamegroute Zaouia

Zaouias are Islamic centres run by the Sufi Brotherhoods.There are several in the oasis towns, the Atlas and AntiAtlas. The one at Tamegroute 20km south of Zagora has historically been one of the most important in the whole of the Maghrab.
It originally dated from the 11C but in the 17C Abou Abdallah Mohammed Ben Naceur  founded the Naciri Brotherhood of which it is the principal seat. The Sheiks were known as the "peacemakers of the desert" and settled the disputes of the caravan traders who passed through as it is on the main caravan route to Mali and the Sudan, much as the London Commercial Court is the tribunal of choice for traders today.
When we were there in 2005 if was much like Stonehenge in the 70s. You pass along the road and it is there to the side of the road. It is most famous to Westerners for a treasure of world importance in its library. Ben Naceur was an inveterate traveller who made the Haj 6 times on each occasion stretching the trip to take in other centres of learning and several years. He visited Istanbul and Cairo and Alexandria as well as Arabia, and brought back books from each. The Madrassa at Tamegroute attracted scholars from all over the Islamic world who also brought books. In 2005 this world treasure was held in a little library of pise in wooden bookcases looked after by an old Hadji who showed us the various manuscripts on Gazelle parchment. The general impression was of a gradual decay into the desert .
What a change!
The Hadji is still there although he is now wheelchair bound and looked after by attentive and respectful acolytes but the Zaouia has been rebuilt. The 17C marabout  of Naceur is still there although to me it seemed as though it had been restored. The mosque and courtyard have been rebuilt and extended and there are new buildings to house the sick (particularly those suffering with mental illness) who stay there for extended periods of time and where they are usually treated by regular care(ie nursing) and being given appropriate sutras of the Q'ran to meditate on or a teaching story to reflect on. I didn't recognise the library although I was assured it was the same building but it is entirely renovated with a high ceiling and modern inset lights and the old wooden bookcases are replaced by modern cases able to preserve the vellum. There is an extension housing modern books for the Medersa students to use as you have to have a government permit to handle the antiquarian books.
There are now only about 4,000 of those left; well below the 40,000 held in its heyday. The zaouia has been dispersing books to other libraries for years and recently a further 2,500 went to Rabat for conservation. The display cabinets show only a fraction of what is left but these include manuscripts from 1053, the oldest Q'ran in Kufic script, a 13C map of Alexandria. a medieval Bestiary, one of the ealiest books of Algebra and books by Avicinna and Averroes, together with early books on medicine, copies of the Q'ran, Sharia family law and commentaries on the Q'ran and Hadiths. Many are wonderfully illuminated,
This is a library as important as the Bodlean or the British Library and all in a small town at "the beginning of the desert" as Tamegroute translates to. It is good to see the investment and appreciation. The zaouia is clearly going to flourish for the century to come.
Serendipitously we arrived on the fist day of Moussem of Ben Naceur. I had seen the market in the town and commented on how large it was but the guide said "No , it's not a market . It's a festival," He said that we wouldn't be able to get in the next day and as we passed through for the next 2 days I believe him Certainly parking would be impossible and the stalls were buzzing and thronged with sweet and balloon seller's added to the mix. There was a complete dearth of vegetables although a little fruit to distinguish it from a normal market.
As we visited the zaouia on the first day of the 7 day festival only the early birds were camped in the courtyard. Rush mats were spread th claim a family's area and often an elderly member left to defend the claim  and their goods whilst the rest of the family were off. One old man was looking very determined about his prime position next to the entrance to the marahout. In the opposite corner a group of men were drumming and chanting the sufi music they use to induce trance dances. A pilgrimage here counts towards a Haj equivalent for those who cannot make the journey to Mecca.